Thesis (Ph. D.)--Stanford University, 1981. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 301-316).

Thesis (M.A.)--Ohio University, March, 2010. / Title from PDF t.p. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Case Western Reserve University, 1979. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 262-265).

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Thesis (PhD)--University of Stellenbosch, 2011. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This dissertation investigates the notion of realism and in particular its applicability to the visual and narrative strategies employed in eight of Michael Winterbottom’s films. Realism is a term that has strong ties to the reality of the viewer, but this reality that governs the conventions for making a judgment on a work’s realism is in constant flux. Likewise, on the side of the film’s production, any number of tactics may be deployed to increase the viewer’s sense of realism and the research undertaken here looks at a variety of approaches to the creation and assessment of realism in a film. Many of the films discussed here are depictions of past events and the tension between the realistic reconstruction of the past and the necessary artifice that is inherent in such representations are studied in the light of the theories of possible and fictional worlds. Possible worlds are constituted by states of affairs that would be possible in the actual world; in the same way, realistic representations reflect the possibilities of the actual world without necessarily being an identical copy of reality. David Lewis’s concept of counterparts plays an important role in the analysis of filmic components, especially when these components are representations of actual entities. In addition to a consideration of counterparts, this dissertation will also look at the role of the “fictional operator” which facilitates discussion about fictional truths. While the fictional operator creates counterparts of actually existing entities and films remain always already fictional, the actual world retains an important role in fiction. In postmodern cinema the viewer is encouraged to use knowledge obtained from other worlds – either actual or imaginary – so as to enhance appreciation (analytical as much as emotional) of the film even more. The concept of realism has been thoroughly problematised, but many strategies continue to connect the events of the fiction either with the “real” world or with other worlds that rival the importance of the “real” world. It is suggested that the so-called “real” world used to measure realism can refer to any world outside the realm of the particular fiction. Realism can be a product of a visual style as well as the particular development of a narrative and in both cases the viewer measures the conditions against her own experience of other worlds. The world of the film is a fictional reality that is sometimes a representation of the actual world, but the relationship between the two worlds can never be completely transparent, in spite of the efforts that many filmmakers have made in this respect. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In hierdie proefskrif word die idee van realisme bestudeer deur veral te let op die term se toepaslikheid op die visuele en narratiewe strategieë wat agt van Michael Winterbottom se films op verskillende maniere aanwend. Realisme is gekoppel aan die kyker se werklikheid, maar hierdie werklikheid wat die konvensies bepaal vir enige uitspraak oor ʼn werk se realisme is gedurig aan die verander. Op soortgelyke wyse kan ʼn film enige aantal taktieke gebruik om by te dra tot die kyker se indruk van realisme en die navorsing wat hier onderneem is kyk na ʼn verskeidenheid benaderings tot die skepping en assessering van realisme in ʼn film. Talle van die voorbeelde wat hier bespreek word is uitbeeldings van gebeure uit die verlede en die spanning tussen ʼn realistiese herskepping en die noodwendige kunsmatigheid wat daarmee saamgaan sal toegelig word deur die teorieë van moontlike wêrelde en wêrelde van fiksie (fictional worlds). Moontlike wêrelde bestaan uit stande van sake wat in die aktuele wêreld moontlik is; op dieselfde wyse weerspieël ʼn realistiese uitbeelding die moontlikhede van die aktuele wêreld sonder om noodwendig ʼn identiese afbeelding van die werklikheid te wees. David Lewis se konsep van ewebeelde (counterparts) speel ʼn groot rol in die ontleding van hierdie films se onderdele, veral wanneer die ewebeelde voorstellings van werklike entiteite is. Behalwe vir ewebeelde, sal hierdie proefskrif ook kyk na die rol van fiksie-operators (fictional operators) wat die gesprek oor fiktiewe waarhede heelwat makliker sal maak. Hoewel die fiksie-operators ewebeelde skep van entiteite wat werklik bestaan en films uiteraard altyd reeds fiktief is, kan die rol van die aktuele wêreld in fiksie nie ontken word nie. In postmoderne films word die kyker juis aangemoedig om haar kennis te gebruik wat sy uit ander wêrelde – hetsy aktueel of denkbeeldig – opgedoen het en sodoende die film (op ʼn analitiese en ʼn emosionele vlak) meer te waardeer. Selfs al is die konsep van realisme reeds behoorlik geproblematiseer, is daar steeds baie strategieë om die gebeure van die fiksie te verbind met die “regte” wêreld of met ander wêrelde wat die belang van die “regte” wêreld ondermyn. Ek stel voor dat die sogenaamde “regte” wêreld wat gebruik word om realisme te meet eindelik kan verwys na enige wêreld buite die onmiddellike fiksie; realisme kan die produk van ʼn visuele styl of die ontwikkeling van die verhaal wees en in albei gevalle meet die kyker die toestande aan haar eiesoortige ervaring van ander wêrelde. Die wêreld van die film is ʼn fiktiewe werklikheid wat soms ʼn voorstelling van die aktuele wêreld is, maar die verwantskap tussen die twee wêrelde kan nooit heeltemal deursigtig wees nie, ten spyte van talle pogings wat filmmakers al in hierdie opsig aangewend het.

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This thesis examines how the concept of an auteur (author of a film) has developed within contemporary Hollywood and popular culture. Building on concepts from Timothy Corrigan, this thesis adapts the ideas of the author and the commercial auteur to examine how director Christopher Nolan's name, and film work, has become branded as "realist" by the Hollywood film industry and by Nolan's consistent self-promotion. Through recurring signatures of "realism," such as, cinematic realism (immersive filmic techniques), technical realism (practical effects and actual locations), subjective realism (spectator access to a character's point of view), psychological realism (relatable motivations) and scientific realism (factual science), Nolan's work has become a recognizable and commoditized brand. Like many modern-day auteurs, Nolan himself has been used as a commodity to generate interest to his working methods and to appeal audiences to his studio films. Analyzing each of Christopher Nolan's films along with the industrial and cultural factors surrounding them, a method for understanding contemporary auteurism in Hollywood is presented. Through a consideration of extra-textual components, including promotional featurette's and journalistic interviews with Nolan, as well as his film crew, this thesis will explore how Nolan might be considered a template for a future of auteur branding.

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Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2002. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In this thesis, an ontology of contemporary cinema is developed using the position assumed by postmodern thinkers (notably Jean Baudrillard) and contemporary filmmakers. Using Baudrillard's perspective it is argued that the cinematic apparatus is an expression of both human curiosity and a desire to place "reality" at a distance. While the spectator seeks involvement with the viewed subject, he or she remains detached from the images which simulate the various "realities" in which he or she becomes "involved" through the act of viewing. The contemporary Western subject is said to crave "meaning" in a universe which is increasingly secular, materialistic, individualistic and, to a certain extent, "virtual". Life is also said to be more ironic, providing illusory concessions such as communication in lieu of interaction, information instead of knowledge, choice in favour of quality, surfaces rather than depth, and images which ultimately extinguish "the real". Moving images may be said to allude to the artificial nature of a "reality" which is itself a human construction. This suggests that the role of the camera is to place both the world and human subjects "at a distance", thereby objectifying (and potentially dehumanising) the subject-objects of the gaze. Many postmodern films are concerned with the functioning of the cinematic apparatus itself, and these films - implicitly and explicitly - deal with the way in which subjectivity is established through the cinematic gaze. "Realism" in the cinema has to a large extent shifted from the documentation of the world, to techniques which problematise the viewer's experience of "reality". Interactivity, faux-verité and the hyperrealism of computer graphic imaging, have contributed to the confusion of various forms of screen "realism", arguably impacting on the viewer's experience of "reality". In another sense, "reality" has been transformed by the blurring of distinctions between high and low cultural paradigms, increasingly evident in work that privileges the showing of "perverse", "profane", "grotesque", "vulgar" and explicit "realities". Boundaries between private and publiC spaces are eroded as the cinematic apparatus takes spectators into increasingly intimate personal spaces, demystifying and popularising the unknown and previously hidden. Considering the influence of commercial and socio-economic factors on the development of contemporary cinema (emphasizing Hollywood), the thesis looks at the aesthetic, thematic and narrative concerns of both mainstream and niche-market films. Focus is given to the socalled postmodern aesthetic which is closely linked to what some critics call recycling (an inability to say anything "new"), some label "empty" (meaningless) and many see as "schizoid" (able to be read in various, often contradictory, ways). The thesis proposes that contemporary (postmodern) cinema is a "pure" form which increasingly sets "reality" at a distance so that it's illusory nature is emphasised. It also demonstrates how contemporary films serve as reflections of a world which is itself nothing but a reflection (artificial construction). Like dreams, fantasies and other "virtual realities", the cinema represents a form of "remembering" which is detached from any particular time or space. In this sense, cinematic moving images enable viewers to engage with aspects of their own humanity which may be quite independent of the "reality" status of the world. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In hierdie proefskrif word die uitgangpunte van postmoderne denkers (by uitstek Jean Beaudrillard) en kontemporêre filmmakers benut om 'n ontologie van die kontemporêre film te ontwikkel. Vanuit Beaudrillard se perspektief word geargumenteer dat die filmiese apparatuur 'n uitrukking is van die mens se Inherente nuuskierigheid en die behoefte om "realiteit" op 'n afstand te hou. Alhoewel die kyker streef na betrokkenheid by die subjek wat bekyk word, bly hy of sy altyd afsydig (detached) van die beelde wat die verskeie "werklikhede" simuleer waarby hy of sy in die proses van kyk "betrokke" raak. Daar word beweer dat die hedendaagse Westerse subjek verlang na "betekenis" in 'n heelal wat al meer sekulêr, materialisties, individualisties en, tot 'n sekere mate, "virtueel" word. Die lewe is deurspek met ironie en maak allerlei illusionêre toegewings aan die "werklikheid", byvoorbeeld deur voorkeur te gee aan kommunikasie in plaas van interaksie, inligting in plaas van kennis, keuse in plaas van kwaliteit, oppervlakkighede in plaas van diepgang en beelde wat uiteindelike "die werklikeid" uitwis. Daar kan gesê word dat filmiese beelde (moving images) verwys na die kunsmatige aard van "realiteit", wat op sigself 'n menslike konstruksie is. Hiermee word dus gesuggereer dat dit die funksie van die kamera is om beide die wêreld en menslike subjekte "op 'n afstand" te plaas, en daarmee te objektiviseer (en moontlik te dehumaniseer). Baie postmoderne films hou hulle besig met die manier wat die filmiese apparatuur self funksioneer, en hierdie films ondersoek die wyse waarop subjektiwiteit deur middel van die kamera verkry word. "Realisme" in die film het tot 'n groot mate verskuif van die dokumentasie van die wêreld na tegnieke om die kyker se ervaring van die "werklikheid" te problematiseer. Interaktiwiteit, faux-verité en die hiper-realiteit van rekenaar gegenereerde beelde het bygedra tot die verwarring oor die verskeie vorme van filmiese "realisme", wat mens sou kon argumenteer 'n impak op die kyker se siening van "die werklikheid" het. In 'n ander sin, is "die werklikheid" getransformeer deur paradigma verskuiwings waardeur die onderskeide tussen "hoë" en "lae" kulture vervaag, iets wat al meer gedemonstreer word deur werke wat verkies om die "perverse", "profane", "groteske", "vulgêre", en eksplisiete "realiteite" te wys. Die grense tussen private en publieke ruimtes vervalook waar die filiese apparatuur kykers in al hoe intiemer persoonlike ruimtes inneem, om daardeur dit wat voorheen onbekende en versteek was te demistifiseer en populariseer. Met inagname van die invloed wat die kommersiële en sosio-ekonomiese faktore op die ontwikkelling van die hedendaagse film (veral van Hollywood) het, kyk die proefskrif na die estetiese, tematiese en narratiewe kwessies wat beide hoofstroom en niche-mark films kenmerk. Daar word veral gefokus op die sogenaamde post-moderne estetiek wat gekoppel word aan wat sommige kritici recycling noem (dws die onvermoë om iets nuuts te sê), ander as "leeg" (dws betekenisloos) beskou, en baie ander weer "shizoid" brandmerk (dws dit kan in verskeie, menige kere kontradiktoriese wyses, gelees of verstaan word). Die proefskrif bevind uiteindelik dan dat die kontemporêre (postmoderne) film 'n "suiwer" vorm is wat dit geleidelik regkry om "realiteit" op 'n afstand te hou, om sodoende sy eie illusionêre wese te benadruk. Dit illustreer ook hoe kontemporêre films funksioneer as refleksies van 'n wêreld wat self niks meer is as refleksie (kunsmatige konstruksie) is nie. Nes drome, fantasieë, en ander "virtuele realiteite", verteenwoordig die film 'n tipe "onthou" (remembering) wat onafhanklik is van 'n spesifteke tyd of plek. In hierdie sin help filmiese beelde kykers om hulself te kontfronteer met aspekte van hulle eie menslikheid wat onafhanklik is van hul werklikheidsstatus in die wêreld.

This dissertation is an investigation on the realist film theory of Siegfried Kracauer. It was principally conducted through film practice as exemplified by the ten short films that compose the omnibus film project, Life-world Series (dir. Joni Gutierrez, 2017, 118 minutes). To supplement the study's examination of Kracauerian cinematic realism (KCR), film criticism of selected works of Lino Brocka was also accomplished. The methodology involved three components: (1) research-based production of Life-world Series; (2) textual analyses of the said film collection and selected Brocka films; and (3) meta-analysis of the scholarly criticism on the Brocka film. This dissertation is the first to use film-making practice which was a part of the research project and devised to investigate KCR, which avows that the cinematic experience of physical reality as an object of contemplation fosters an intuitive understanding of the Lebenswelt (life-world) and, in turn, brings about the redemptive potential of film vis-à-vis the modern condition. The emergent design of Life-world Series opened the study to a wide range of possibilities that it could not have encountered if it limited itself to applying a particular theory as a framework in doing film criticism of pre-existing works. This project - through both its film practice and criticism components - is an interweaving of key notions from Husserlian phenomenology and the seven KCR tropes identified in the study, namely: (1) the quotidian; (2) the transient; (3) the refuse; (4) the fortuitous; (5) the indeterminate; (6) the flow of life; and (7) the spiritual life itself. The phenomenological engagement of this investigation has provided opportunities for expanding the inventory of KCR tropes, to conceivably include characteristics of the Lebenswelt which form part of the project's overall findings; that is, the life-world as: (1) expansive; (2) multi-layered; (3) flowing; (4) in the process of becoming; (5) resonantly intersubjective; (6) a thing of beauty; (7) relating to essences; (8) cyclical; (9) transcendent; (10) meaning-laden; (11) fragmented; and (12) malleable. The dissertation explicates how its phenomenological approach in inspecting KCR led to the construction of a prospective model of cinematic realism - the integrated quadrant model of Kracauerian cinematic realism (IQMKCR) - and finally, determines the implications and prospects of using film practice as an instrument in interrogating KCR.